South Africa will send envoys to other African countries and around the world after a spate of xenophobic attacks targeting immigrants from other nations on the continent, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday.

Ramaphosa made the comments at a press conference after talks with his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto at the seat of South Africa's government in Pretoria.

"There will be envoys, yes, there will be people that we will send around not only on the continent but also around the world," Ramaphosa said.

He continued: "What we seek to do is to get the issue of migration ... properly addressed, ... we should get as many key role players, countries ... to work together."

Ramaphosa said he and Ruto had touched on the topic of migration during their talks.

"As South Africa, we are addressing this matter," Ramaphosa told reporters. "And I explained that South Africans are not xenophobic. South Africans are Africans. They want to live with other Africans peacefully".